Gato Feo

[Pardini]

I have mutton tallow ordered to make some of this lube. I've done some research since and now need some insight on the formula.

Question is why use paraffin wax. Why not just beeswax and mutton tallow. Most say that petroleum products and BP don't go well together, paraffin is a petroleum derivative. Paraffin has a a slightly lower melt point than beeswax, but doesnt seem like much of a difference to bother with both.

I want to use this lube in an unheated lubersizer and wonder if it's going to be too hard.

[Don McDowell]

You can really save yourself some trouble by using any one of the commercially available lubes that have a proven record.
Bullshops Nasa, Big Sky Components BSC lube, and SPG, all are affordable and proven.
But to answer your question, paraffin works fine in a bpcr lube, and beeswax has been the basis of bcpr lubes since time began.

[rfd]

i'd agree with don if yer using a lube sizer device, since the commercial lube is preformed and relatively cheap. but for dip or pan lubing, some folks just like brewing their own.

gato feo ...

1# mutton tallow (dgw), 1# candle/canning wax (gulf), 1/2# beeswax (online and elsewhere). alter or modify it's final viscosity to suit your region or time of year.
mix ingredients in a "double boiler" - put the goods into a jar or can, set that in a pot of water, liquefy and stir well, pour into a small teflon mould, or muffin moulds, or into soup cans for remelting in a pot of water later on. 2-1/2# can last for quite some time.

[semtav]

You can really save yourself some trouble by using any one of the commercially available lubes that have a proven record.


Get real Don !!!! We all know that when someone starts out in this endeavor, the first thing they realize is they can probably make a much better lube than what is tried and tested. Its part of the lure of the game. Only took me about 5 years to realize the ODG's had the best lube. (Paper)

[rfd]

a good grease lube ain't rocket science. again, as don posted, beeswax has been a staple. for over a century. and as to a "best" lube, that's whatever you think works "best", for you.

[Pardini]

I bought DGL. It's hard. Looks like SPG is too. I'm looking for something soft, Gato Feo as per the posted recipe seems like it's hard to be fairly hard as well.

It's my understanding a soft lube performs better than a hard one when shooting BP.

[rfd]

as mixed up with the original proportioned formula, gato feo is soft. i like it that way. it can be made softer or harder by varying the percentage of ingredients. this is not a new lube formula, but one that is s'posed to have originated back when there was only one kind gunpowder, black.

the full scoop on gato feo as written by old ugly cat himself ....

GATOFEO LUBE
************

by weight ...

1 part mutton tallow (dixie gun works)
1 part canning wax (gulf)
1/2 part beeswax

Yes, canning paraffin is a petroleum product, but it's also pure paraffin. There are no scents, unrelated oils, glitter, etc. such as are found in decorative or scented candles. It's pure, and that's why I specify it.

When I first began using canning paraffin, I too wondered why it didn't create the tarry fouling when used with black powder, as other petroleum products do. Fact is, I posed this question in various message boards years ago. A chemist provided what seems a plausible answer: Canning paraffin lacks the hydrocarbons found in other petroleum products. Apaprently, these hydrocarbons are the offender.

I'm no chemist, and I don't have access to a lab that could test for the presence of hydrocarbons, so I remain uncertain if what he said is true, opinion or S.W.A.G.

All I know is that canning paraffin -- the same translucent stuff that is melted and poured into the open mouths of preserve jars, does not create the hard, tarry fouling I typically find with other petroleum products (automotive grease, transmission fluid, rifle grease, lithium grease, etc.).

The natural greases (animal and vegetable in origin) also dissolve more easily in soapy water during cleaning. Petroleum grease resists dissolving and tends to float around in the water as tiny clumps, often sticking to the steel surfaces of guns and requiring additional cleaning.

Canning paraffin works. I can't explain it. The original 19th century factory recipe called for "paraffin" and that was the only description. There are different types of paraffin, but I chose canning paraffin for its purity and availability. Luckily, it worked just fine and I didn't have to search for a more esoteric paraffin.

Perhaps it lacks the hydrocarbons that are claimed to be the culprit. Perhaps not. But I do know that canning paraffin is the best paraffin I've found and it doesn't create a hard, tarry fouling when used with black powder.

I've made other variations of Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant with substited ingredients, including old candles, and the resulting lubricant is not as good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The old recipe I found only listed:
Tallow
Paraffin
Beeswax

No specifics beyond these were given.

The recipe was originally used by factories for bullets that were outside lubricated, as found on heeled bullets. The only heeled bullets loaded by factories today are the .22 Short, Long and Long Rifle, and the .32 Short Colt (occasionally loaded by Winchester).
I used the above recipe and assembled it with mutton tallow, canning paraffin and beeswax because it's what I had on hand when I found the old recipe.

I have a Marlin Model 1892 rifle that uses heeled bullets, which I cast myself. After using the lubricant with .32 Long Colt reloads, I decided to try it with felt wads for my cap and ball revolvers, and patches for my CVA Mountain Rifle in .50 caliber.

Doing so, I was impressed with the old recipe assembled with mutton tallow, canning paraffin and beeswax. I've also used it with black powder loads and lead bullets in my .44-40 and .45-70 rifles, as well as .45 Long Colt revolver.

I used very specific ingredients, but didn't change the ratio of 10/10/5 parts.

I first posted the recipe -- with mutton tallow, canning paraffin and beeswax -- about 1999 or 2000 on many message boards. Shortly after posting it, someone dubbed it "Gatofeo No. 1 Lubricant" and the name stuck.

Did the old factory recipe specify liquid or solid paraffin? I don't know. I suspect it was solid, because the lubricant must be sticky and solid, to stick to the bare, smooth lead of an outside-lubricated bullet not protected by the case. Only a very small portion of the bullet is inside the case -- the heel -- the rest of it is exposed to grit and lubricant wear-off while carried in pockets and game bags.

Modern .22 rimfire lubricant that covers the bullet is much harder and tenacious than the old factory recipe I found.
I suspect it's entirely wax of some type, with no grease or beeswax.

From what I've observed -- tiny teats on the point of the lead .22 bullet -- it's applied by dipping the completed cartridge upside down in melted wax up to where the bullet meets the brass case. Dipping in melted lubricant was the old method and is evidently still used today.

I know of liquid paraffin used for lamp fuel, but don't believe I've ever seen it. Perhaps I simply haven't recognized it.

Interestingly, one muzzleloading outfitter's site claims:

WARNING: Paraffin and other petroleum products can cause "Cook offs". It is neither fun nor healthy to have your musket unexpectedly fire while you are loading.

This is the first warning of this type I've seen, and I've been using black powder for nearly 40 years. I don't understand how a "cook-off" can be generated by paraffin. Does he mean it creates longer-lasting embers?

The age-old definition of "cook-off" means that the gun metal becomes so hot that the powder is ignited by this heat. This is a common problem in machine guns, and perhaps semi-autos fired quickly with a great deal of ammo, but in a black powder rifle?

The owner of the site clearly has a great deal of experience in black powder shooting, but i have to doubt this assertion. I've yet to hear of anyone experiencing unexpected ignition by using petroleum products. I and others have learned that most petroleum products, when used with black powder, create a hard, tarry fouling. Of this there is little doubt.

Canning paraffin lacks this characteristic. A chemist wrote me long ago that canning paraffin lacks the hydrocarbons that petroleum greases and oils contain. I don't know about this; I'm not a chemist, petroleum engineer or geologist. However, I DO know that I don't experience the hard, tarry fouling when using canning paraffin.

Whatever it lacks or possesses, it's clearly different from other petroleum products.

[Nobade]

RFD, thanks for posting that. I had seen it somewhere but it's been a long time. Gatofeo #1 does indeed work nicely through a lubrisizer and is quite soft when you press on it, though it doesn't run from heat. It also makes a very good black powder lube, yesterday I fired 50 rounds of BP ammo lubed with it through my Marlin 44 magnum rifle with no wiping and no foul - out. Even won the match by one point! Yep, that stuff works and is nice to use.

-Nobade

[rfd]

thanx to you, nobade, for steering me to gato feo long ago! love and prefer that lube!

[BrentD]

What does Gato feo mean? A strange name for sure.

However, paraffin is a hydrocarbon - no doubt about that. And it does come from petroleum - no doubt about that.

That petroleum products and blackpowder fouling creates "tarry fouling" and other similar internet statements - LOTS of doubt about that.

Sounds like good stuff. I might have to try it sometime. I've been using 50:50 mutton tallow and beeswax with a shot of sperm oil or jojoba oil thrown it. That has worked very well for me, but I have been meaning to try some more things with paraffin just for fun. I don't use a lot of lube however.

[rfd]

"gato feo" = "ugly cat" :wink:

be glad to send ya some for your evaluation, brent.

[BrentD]

rfd,
Thanks for the offer, but I have all the ingredients to make my own and I hardly ever use lube anyway.

Brent

[Pardini]

as mixed up with the original proportioned formula, gato feo is soft. i like it that way. it can be made softer or harder by varying the percentage of ingredients. this is not a new lube formula, but one that is s'posed to have originated back when there was only one kind .

Do you think it is soft enough to feed through a a Star sizer at 70*F?

[Nobade]

Do you think it is soft enough to feed through a a Star sizer at 70*F?

Dunno about a Star, but it works fine in my RCBS LM at 30 deg. F.

-Nobade

[Tom Herman]

Good deal on your lube! I've been using what is essentially the same thing since Day One: 40% Paraffin Wax, 40% Sheep Tallow, and 20% Beeswax.
It's good for all my smokeless stuff up to at least 1000 FPS.
The stuff seems to be almost a dead ringer for SPG.
I don't use it cold, but preheat the lubrisizer to about 110 degrees F. It flows pretty well around that temperature.
Here is the deal with Paraffin wax: It's composed of some fairly long, straight hydrocarbon chains, but not so long as to the point where the material grades off into a tar.
The alkane structure of paraffin means that it is pretty inert/unreactive.
The so-called "paraffin oils", are long chain oils that tend to solidify around 30 degrees F.
If you could look at the length of molecules, from shorter to longer, you would have diesel fuel, paraffin oils, then solid paraffins.
As the length of the chain/molecule gets longer, the melting temperature goes up, and there is more of a tendency to become solid.

-Tom

[Pardini]

Success, brewed up 2.5#'s of Gato Feo. Poured it into 24 3/4, 1X4 inch sticks to feed the Star sizer. Happy with the hardness, I think it will flow well through the sizer.

Hope it works well on the boolits, if not the wife says she will use it as a moisturizer.

[Tom Herman]

I think you'll be fine! I'm VERY happy with it here....

[rfd]

it's as good a bp lube as any, and will do very well with trap door velocities, pardini. i've used it for .45acp, .357mag and .38spl as well, with excellent results.

[Texantothecore]

I keep looking at soy wax cause it is dirt cheap. Has anyone used it satisfactorily?

[Nobade]

I keep looking at soy wax cause it is dirt cheap. Has anyone used it satisfactorily?

Yes, I use quite a bit of it to make Pearl lube. Equal parts soy flakes, Crisco, and a toilet bowl ring. It's cheap, very soft, and makes a decent black powder lube.

They also work reasonably well mixed with TC Bore Butter to stiffen it up some.

Never used them in any other lube, but would probably work in lots of other recipes. They have a lot of water in them, and work quite well to keep the fouling hydrated.

-Nobade